Phillips, Shaw disingenuous

Audley Shaw tries to deny that he is taking from one hand to pay the other, when, in fact, he is taking more (in taxes) than he is putting back (in increased income tax threshold). He is equally disingenuous when he claims that the 7.7 per cent increase in petrol tax will not affect spending power.

And now we have Peter Phillips encouraging Shaw to increase the personal income tax rate by three per cent and effective corporation tax by 3.85% (the latter taken from the World Bank's 'Doing Business') by diverting NHT contributions into the general Budget YET AGAIN.

It was theft before to the tune of $45 billion, despite retroactive legislation. It would be theft again, and I hope this time that people will rise up against further depletion of the funds that can (if imaginatively spent) provide all Jamaicans with decent housing which they own.

Will the trustees of the NHT funds now speak out and say NEVER AGAIN? Or is the trustee idea just a sham, a plaything for the politicians to ignore when it suits them?